I’m getting phone calls saying Egyptian security is cracking down now on thousands of pro-Lebanese and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Al-Azhar. I still don’t have details. The Mosque, as well as the neighborhood, is under siege by the Central Security Forces, State Security agents, plainclothes policemen and hired thugs, according to a lawyer present in the scene.
Some people are trapped in the mosque. Others are outside, and got scattered into seperate groups by security, who assaulted some of them, confiscated the leaflets and flags they were carrying, according to the lawyer who called me.
Yesterday, the police also banned another rally in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, in Zagazig, Sharqiyya Province, as Egyptian blogger Asad reports. And in Isma3ilia, ten Muslim Brothers activists were detained by security, and charged for “writing some phrases on the street walls which read ‘Together with the resistance of Palestine and Lebanon,'” according to Ikhwan Web.
UPDATE: I spoke with a blogger who was present in the scene. She said the mosque was packed with worshippers, Kefaya and Labor Party activists, but could not see a sizeable Muslim Brothers’ presence. (CORRECTION: I checked with sources, and it turned out the MB took part in the protest, led by Mahdi Akef the group’s Supreme Guide.) The security, she added, did not restrict access to the mosque, but responded brutally when the demonstrators tried to get out of the mosque. Plainclothes thugs were unleashed on the protestors and worshippers, using sticks and batons, till they pushed them back into the mosque. The blogger said she saw several activists, including Malek whose shirt was stained with the blood of another demonstrator who was injured. The activists continued demonstrating inside the mosque, chanting against Israel, US, and Arab regimes, for around an hour.
Later the security allowed those trapped inside to leave, one by one. Activists are now on their way to the Press Syndicate in 3abdel Khaleq Tharwat Street, to hold a sit in.
UPDATE: It’s 4pm, I got a phone call from the blogger again saying they are marching now in downtown! Around 150 activists managed to re-assemble, after assaults by security and thugs, in Opera Square. They are marching towards the Press Syndicate, chanting slogans against Israel, US, and the Egyptian police. Several activists haven been injured already. Released detainee Rasha 3azzab, according to the blogger, was assaulted by the thugs who slapped her on the face and pushed her to the ground.
UPDATE: 4:20pm, They have reached the Press Syndicate. I could hear on the phone slogans chanted against Gamal Mubarak.
PHOTOS: Photographers Nasser Nouri and 3amr 3abdallah sent me those pix of the earlier protest in Al-Azhar. Check out the SLIDESHOW
UPDATE: Here’s a dpa report by Jano Charbel:
Around 8,000 Egyptians demonstrate against Israel’s escalation of military strikes on Lebanon
Cairo, July 21 (dpa) –Around 8,000 Egyptians demonstrated, in Cairo and Alexandria, following Friday noontime prayers, against Israel’s escalation of military strikes on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
Black-clad central security forces sealed in around 5,000 demonstrators within Cairo’s al-Azhar Mosque as they chanted slogans against Israel ‘s targeting of civilian non-combatants and infrastructure in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The demonstration was organized by the Moslem Brotherhood, and the left-leaning umbrella movement Kifaya/Enough. Other political forces present at the demonstration were members of the Nasserist Party, the Revolutionary Socialists, and the Labor Party. Former Egyptian Prime Minister Aziz Sedqi was also present.
The thousands at al-Azhar condemned Israel’s aggressions, the green light granted by the US to Israel in targeting Lebanon and Gaza, and the “pathetic stance of all Arab leaders.”
The demonstrators specifically denounced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as being a US agent for censuring Hizbollah. Other Arab leaders singled out for criticism were King Abdallah II of Jordan and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah Ben Abdel Aziz.
The demonstrators chanted in demand of the closure of the Israeli embassy in Egypt and the expulsion of its ambassador from the country. Other slogans expressed solidarity with the resistance of Hizbollah and Hamas against “the Zionist enemy.”
The protestors burnt an Israeli flag, and there were scuffles with security forces – in which three were injured.
A group of about 100 of these protestors took to the Journalists’ Syndicate in downtown Cairo to continue with their demonstration against Israel.
Meanwhile, in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria, 200 kilometers north of Cairo, another 3,000 are said to have demonstrated against Israel, and in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, in a number of mosques following Friday prayers.
The Kifaya opposition movement also organized a small demonstration in the Alexandrian district of al-Raml. Further demonstrations are scheduled for next week.
Some people are trapped in the mosque. Others are outside, and got scattered into seperate groups by security, who assaulted some of them, confiscated the leaflets and flags they were carrying, according to the lawyer who called me.
Yesterday, the police also banned another rally in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, in Zagazig, Sharqiyya Province, as Egyptian blogger Asad reports. And in Isma3ilia, ten Muslim Brothers activists were detained by security, and charged for “writing some phrases on the street walls which read ‘Together with the resistance of Palestine and Lebanon,'” according to Ikhwan Web.
UPDATE: I spoke with a blogger who was present in the scene. She said the mosque was packed with worshippers, Kefaya and Labor Party activists, but could not see a sizeable Muslim Brothers’ presence. (CORRECTION: I checked with sources, and it turned out the MB took part in the protest, led by Mahdi Akef the group’s Supreme Guide.) The security, she added, did not restrict access to the mosque, but responded brutally when the demonstrators tried to get out of the mosque. Plainclothes thugs were unleashed on the protestors and worshippers, using sticks and batons, till they pushed them back into the mosque. The blogger said she saw several activists, including Malek whose shirt was stained with the blood of another demonstrator who was injured. The activists continued demonstrating inside the mosque, chanting against Israel, US, and Arab regimes, for around an hour.
Later the security allowed those trapped inside to leave, one by one. Activists are now on their way to the Press Syndicate in 3abdel Khaleq Tharwat Street, to hold a sit in.
UPDATE: It’s 4pm, I got a phone call from the blogger again saying they are marching now in downtown! Around 150 activists managed to re-assemble, after assaults by security and thugs, in Opera Square. They are marching towards the Press Syndicate, chanting slogans against Israel, US, and the Egyptian police. Several activists haven been injured already. Released detainee Rasha 3azzab, according to the blogger, was assaulted by the thugs who slapped her on the face and pushed her to the ground.
UPDATE: 4:20pm, They have reached the Press Syndicate. I could hear on the phone slogans chanted against Gamal Mubarak.
PHOTOS: Photographers Nasser Nouri and 3amr 3abdallah sent me those pix of the earlier protest in Al-Azhar. Check out the SLIDESHOW
UPDATE: Here’s a dpa report by Jano Charbel:
Around 8,000 Egyptians demonstrate against Israel’s escalation of military strikes on Lebanon
Cairo, July 21 (dpa) –Around 8,000 Egyptians demonstrated, in Cairo and Alexandria, following Friday noontime prayers, against Israel’s escalation of military strikes on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
Black-clad central security forces sealed in around 5,000 demonstrators within Cairo’s al-Azhar Mosque as they chanted slogans against Israel ‘s targeting of civilian non-combatants and infrastructure in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The demonstration was organized by the Moslem Brotherhood, and the left-leaning umbrella movement Kifaya/Enough. Other political forces present at the demonstration were members of the Nasserist Party, the Revolutionary Socialists, and the Labor Party. Former Egyptian Prime Minister Aziz Sedqi was also present.
The thousands at al-Azhar condemned Israel’s aggressions, the green light granted by the US to Israel in targeting Lebanon and Gaza, and the “pathetic stance of all Arab leaders.”
The demonstrators specifically denounced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as being a US agent for censuring Hizbollah. Other Arab leaders singled out for criticism were King Abdallah II of Jordan and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah Ben Abdel Aziz.
The demonstrators chanted in demand of the closure of the Israeli embassy in Egypt and the expulsion of its ambassador from the country. Other slogans expressed solidarity with the resistance of Hizbollah and Hamas against “the Zionist enemy.”
The protestors burnt an Israeli flag, and there were scuffles with security forces – in which three were injured.
A group of about 100 of these protestors took to the Journalists’ Syndicate in downtown Cairo to continue with their demonstration against Israel.
Meanwhile, in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria, 200 kilometers north of Cairo, another 3,000 are said to have demonstrated against Israel, and in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, in a number of mosques following Friday prayers.
The Kifaya opposition movement also organized a small demonstration in the Alexandrian district of al-Raml. Further demonstrations are scheduled for next week.
Here in Bahrain, a rally in solidarity with Lebanon (Hezbollah would probably be more accurate) was due to be held two hours ago, in which the demonstrators tried to march to the American Embassy. But it seems they were stopped by the riot police with tear gas, and there are reports that several protestors have been beaten and arrested.
This regional trend is quite interesting.
The Brothers are saying 30,000, which is surely an exaggeration, no?
http://www.ikhwanonline.com/Article.asp?ID=22102&LevelID=1&SectionID=0
You can assume that virtually all the numbers given by activists are an exageration by about 20-40%, in my experience. (No offense meant to the activists, but they do get carried away in their enthusiasm sometimes.) But that applies to single demos, what’s often forgotten is that there are often many demos in Tanta, Zagazig, Alexandria, and elsewhere in the provinces.
I’m surprised Mahdi Akef took part in the demo — wouldn’t that be the first time since he became Murshid?
But the Brothers are saying in that article, if my reading comprehension is correct, that there were 30K demonstrating after Friday prayers.
Dunno about Akef. BTW, in case I forgot to mention it, he was the center of attention at the Democratic Front’s launch event.
I did not attend the demo, so I can’t confirm the number of participants. However, I’d say from what I heard from witnesses and from the pictures that 30,000 is sure an inflated figure.
Anyways, the last time activists managed to mobilize such number in that same place was March 2003. That number was strong enough to overcome security barriers, and stirr a march that reached Tahrir. So if the same number was present today, I don’t think the thugs would have managed to stop them. I’d go with the figures mentioned in Jano’s report.
Re Akef: Yes, he was there, and that’s mentioned in the Ikhwan Online report. I also saw footage of him on Al-Jazeera, addressing the crowds inside the mosque.
Al-Jazeera is also reporting 7,000 took part in a solidarity march in Libya.. couldn’t catch the details.